Community

"When you throw trash on the ground, you apparently don't see yourself as truly belonging in the world that you're walking around in. And when you fraudulently claim money from the government, you are ultimately stealing from your friends, family, and neighbors - or somebody else's friends, family, and neighbors" - Tribe, Sebastian Junger (p.112)

The reality is that there are many outcomes that we can support, marketing is just one of them. Content is another. As is research, events, product development. Community literally has the potential to support the entire organisation.

I post this quote from Peter Block's book "Community" every year. It doesn't get much attention because it's not built for social media: it's thick.

But there really isn't a better explanation of the "why" behind the work I do, and its encouragement for communities to move away from blame, apathy, and entitlement and towards possibility,

People have all kinds of ambitions, goals, and plans, but consistently following through is the hard part. Some people are wired to make steady progress or have learned to do this well. But many people depend on external pressures and constraints, feedback, check-ins, and high stakes — financial, professional, or social — to spur them into action.

We don't necessarily need to constantly interact with people “around” us on the web. The sensation of being in the quiet companionship of someone else, like reading next to them in a cafe, is what we're missing. The sense of ambiently sharing space – of being co-present – while engaged in other activities is a staple of shared public spaces that